A Whale of a Graffiti Magnet in New Jersey

Bob Schoelkopf, left, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, looks over a minke whale that washed up along with a common dolphin, in foreground, in Atlantic City, N.J., Thursday.

AP Photo/The Press of Atlantic City, Vernon Ogrodnek

Vandals added insult to injury for a dead Minke whale in New Jersey Thursday by scrawling graffiti on the creature after it washed ashore.

According to the Press of Atlantic City, the roughly 12- to 15-foot-long whale was found below Atlantic City’s Central Pier with what appear to be Greek letters. (The Associated Press interpreted the scrawling to be “Tau Epsilon Phi, a fraternity that has chapters at several area schools, followed by what looked like “94.”")

Authorities did not know the cause of the whale’s death, though a pathologist and other scientists were on scene. A plan to bury the creature near the boardwalk has apparently unnerved locals, the Press reported.

Mary Mitchell, who owns a psychic shop on the 1700 block of the Boardwalk, said she and her neighbors were worried that the decomposing whale would smell during the summer.